Thales’s LiveTV Satellite Communications and distributor Greenwich AeroGroup have demonstrated the LiveAero airborne connectivity system on a Sikorsky S-92 in flight. The first test flight took place September 16 at Sikorsky’s facility in Coatesville, Pa., the companies said.

LiveAero provides three voice channels and one data channel that can be simultaneously used for voice, data and compressed video transmission on helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. The system can support mission data requirements such as texting, email, Internet access, aircraft health monitoring and VPN connectivity during all stages of flight. Sikorsky chose the companies to install LiveAero on S-92s used for search-and-rescue missions.

“We were able to demonstrate in flight that the ‘Safe Triage System’ has the ability to capture and transmit all vital signs via wireless peripherals directly to emergency medical centers to aid in intelligent diagnosis,” said Thomas Tully, Sikorsky Aircraft engineering project manager.

Thales (supplies a multi-element seven-panel phased-array antenna to communicate with the Iridium network of 66 low-Earth orbit satellites and manage the bandwidth between satellites. Flight testing included communicating with the Iridium satellites at a variety of azimuths, showing continuous connectivity throughout the flight envelope.

“This confirms that the technology provides the rotorcraft industry with a very stable, high-availability data link,” said Thales LiveTV president Glenn Latta.